Batavia's Graveyard (61 page)

“Because Ariaen Jacobsz . . .”
Governor-General in council, 13
July 1629, cited in ibid., p. 46.

Antonij van den Heuvel
He had arrived in Batavia in June 1628 and three
months later was appointed
fiscaal.
His principal task was to curb the excesses of
the private trade, and in order to incentivize him the Gentlemen XVII had promised Van den
Heuvel one-third of all the fines he imposed on those found guilty of the crime. The new
fiscaal
took to his job with enthusiasm, even fining members of the Council of the Indies for
their activities. He quickly became the most hated man in Batavia as a result. Gerretson,
op. cit., pp. 68–70.

The
Sardam’s
voyage
JFP 15 Jul–16 Sep [DB 134–141];
Drake-Brockman, op. cit., pp. 46–7. For Gerritsz, Hollert, and Claas Jansz, see
ibid., pp. 46, 68.

Gerritsz, Jacob Jansz, and Claes Jansz
OV; JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 157];
Drake-Brockman, op. cit., p. 68; Pelsaert’s declaration, op. cit.

“Smoke on a long island . . .”
JFP 17 Sep 1629 [DB
141].

Chapter 7: “Who Wants to Be Stabbed to Death?”

Gijsbert Bastiaensz’s letter home, the only personal account of life
on Batavia’s Graveyard, was particularly important in compiling the information in
this chapter. Information on the geography, geology, and archaeology of Wiebbe
Hayes’s Island has been drawn from the various publications of the Western Australian
Maritime Museum, and my discussion of the events surrounding Pelsaert’s return to the
Abrolhos on the interpretations advanced in Jeremy Green, Myra Stanbury, and Femme Gaastra
(eds.),
The ANCODS Colloquium: Papers Presented at the Australia-Netherlands Colloquium
on Maritime Archaeology and Maritime History
(Fremantle: Australian National Centre of
Excellence for Maritime Archaeology, 1999).

Gijsbert Bastiaensz
LGB; J. Mooij,
Bouwstoffen voor de Geschiedenis der
Protestantsche Kerk in Nederlands-Indiï
(Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1927), I,
328.

Jeronimus preaches his views
Verdict on Jan Hendricxsz, JFP 28 Sep 1629;
interrogation of Jan Pelgrom, JFP 26 Sep 1629 [DB 184, 209]; Mooij, op. cit., p.
308.

“He tried to maintain . . .”
This summary was written by Salomon
Deschamps, but presumably at Pelsaert’s dictation. JFP 30 Sep 1629 [DB
212].

Spiritual Liberty and its views
Norman Cohn,
The Pursuit of the
Millennium: Revolutionary Millenarians and Mystical Anarchists of the Middle Ages
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970), pp. 148–97.

“Bastiaensz was rarely allowed to preach”
In his evidence to the
Church Council in Batavia, Bastiaensz claimed that he had continued to preach in the
Abrolhos. It was certainly in his interests to assert this, since—as we will
see—his perceived weakness during the
Batavia
episode had left him in danger
of being prevented from taking up a post in the Indies. Since there are several references
in the journals to a ban on religious services (cf. verdict on Andries Jonas, JFP 28 Sep
1629 [DB 204]), the
predikant
was probably referring to his time on Wiebbe
Hayes’s Islands, if he was telling the truth at all. There is, however, one reference
in the Harderwijk MS to a religious ceremony on the island; see below. Mooij, op. cit., p.
328.

“Blaspheme and swear”
Harderwijck MS [R 26].

“Let us sing”
Ibid.

Severed seals’ fins
Ibid.

Oaths of loyalty
Later on, when circumstances compelled Jeronimus to
remove potential rivals from his band, “he tore the Oath of agreement publicly, by
which action he dismissed the same, and so those who had to die were murdered at night,
and then a new agreement was made.” For this, and the oaths themselves, see JFP 19
Sep 1629; interrogation of Jeronimus Cornelisz, same date [DB 147–8, 166].

Those who signed
Twenty-five men signed the first oath of loyalty, and 36
the second, not including Cornelisz himself. Their names are listed here; note the changes
in the order of the names, which in certain cases seem to denote variations in status
within the group. The original lists give occupations and places of origin for most of the
men, which have had to be omitted here. Deschamps, who wrote out the documents, places
himself at the bottom of each, no doubt to dissociate himself as far as possible from the
mutineers, though his rank would have assured him of a higher place in the originals.
Finally, note that Cornelisz signs as a member of the band on the first occasion,
primus
inter pares,
while the second oath was sworn
to
him, as undisputed leader. From
JFP 19 Sep 1629 [DB 165–7]. Additions to the ranks of the mutineers are marked* on
the second list:

The killers
It would not do to suggest these men were too discriminating.
Beer, for example, claimed never to have killed a woman, but in fact he slaughtered one of
Bastiaensz’s daughters and helped to kill his wife. Nor did he display any reluctance
to murder children. Interrogation of Mattys Beer, JFP 23 Sep 1629 [DB 190].

Jan Hendricxsz’s murders
Upon Pelsaert’s return to the Abrolhos,
Hendricxsz immediately and openly confessed to this number of killings, almost as though
he were boasting of his achievement. JFP 17 Sep 1629 [DB 143].

The women
Mutineers’ oath of 20 Aug 1629 [DB 147].

“. . . for common service . . .”
JFP 19 Sep 1629 [DB
147].

Jan Hendricxsz’s woman
Verdict on Jan Hendricxsz, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB
184].

Mattys Beer’s woman
Verdict on Mattys Beer, JFP 2 Oct 1629 [DB
193].

Olivier van Welderen’s woman
Verdict on Olivier van Welderen, JFP 30
Nov 1629 [DB 245].

Loos’s and Van Os’s women
Verdict on Wouter Loos, 24 Sep 1629;
verdict on Lenert Michielsz van Os, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 188–9, 225].

Jan Pelgrom’s women
Interrogation of Jan Pelgrom, JFP 26 Sep 1629 [DB
209].

“My daughter . . .”
LGB.

“Almost as soon as he took power”
The journals state that
Cornelisz enjoyed Lucretia as his concubine “for two months.” Since he was
captured by Hayes’s men on 2 September (see below), this implies that his
relationship with her began early in July, though Zevanck’s conversation with Creesje
suggests she did not sleep with him before 22 July. Verdict on Jeronimus Cornelisz, JFP 28
Sep 1629 [DB 176].

Cornelisz’s wooing
The romantic expectations of the period are mapped
by Simon Schama,
The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the
Golden Age
(London: Fontana, 1987), pp. 437, 439–40. In seeking to seduce
Creesje, Cornelisz naturally ignored the inconvenient fact of his existing marriage; by
now he must have realized that, whatever happened on the Abrolhos, he would never see
Haarlem again.

“. . . in the end . . .”
Testimony of Wiebbe Hayes et al., 2 Oct
1629, OV [DB 68-9]. This testimony does not feature in Pelsaert’s journals, and was
first published in Isaac Commelin’s pamphlet of 1647. As Drake-Brockman point out, it
might be a forgery designed to clear Creesje of the suspicion that she submitted too
tamely to Cornelisz; but there is internal evidence, in its dating, that it was at least
written when it is supposed to have been, on the day of the apothecary’s
execution.

Jan Pelgrom de Bye
Interrogation of Jan Pelgrom, JFP 26–28 Sep 1629
[DB 209–11].

“Zevanck wanted to ensure . . .”
It will be recalled that
Stone-Cutter Pietersz was also present that night, but played no direct part in the
massacre. Perhaps, as a member of Cornelisz’s council, he was beyond suspicion;
perhaps, as Zevanck’s superior, he could not simply be ordered to take part in the
killing.

Murder of Jan Gerritsz and Obbe Jansz
Verdict on Jeronimus Cornelisz, JFP
28 Sep 1629 [DB 174].

Murder of Stoffel Stoffelsz
Confession of Jeronimus Cornelisz, JFP 23 Sep
1629; verdict on Jan Hendricxsz, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 169, 184]

Murder of Hendrick Jansz
Statement of Jeronimus Cornelisz, JFP 24 Sep
1629; verdict on Rogier Decker, JFP 12 Nov 1629 [DB 169, 231–2] The date of this
killing is variously given as 25 July and 10 August in the journals. Jansz was bound when
Decker stabbed him and could not have put up much of a fight. Verdict on Jeronimus
Cornelisz, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 175].

Murder of Anneken Hardens
Verdict on Jan Hendricxsz, JFP 28 Sep 1629;
verdict on Jan Pelgrom, JFP 28 Sep 1629; verdict on Andries Liebent, JFP 30 Nov 1629 [DB
184, 210, 244]. The date of this killing is variously given as 28 and 30 July.

Murder of Cornelis Aldersz
Confession of Jeronimus Cornelisz, 23 Sep 1629;
interrogation of Jan Pelgrom, 23 Sep 1629; interrogation of Mattys Beer, 26 Sep 1629;
verdict on Mattys Beer, JFP 28 Sep 1629, [DB 169, 190–1, 195, 208–11]. In
writing up his interrogation of Pelgrom, Pelsaert tells this story twice in almost exactly
the same words. My quotations have been pieced together from these two accounts. Further
variants appear in the
commandeur
’s notes on Mattys Beer. Pelsaert says on
four occasions that Aldersz was decapitated by Beer’s single stroke, but another
reference in the journals says merely that the soldier “with one blow near enough
struck off his head.”

The murder of Andries de Vries
Verdict on Jeronimus Cornelisz, JFP 28 Sep
1629 [DB 174]; summary of the crimes of Rutger Fredricx, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 156]; verdict
on Rutger Fredricx, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 207]; interrogation of Lenert van Os, JFP 23 Sep
1629 [DB 186–7]. The notion that Creesje and Andries shared a bond of friendship, and
that De Vries was seen as an especial threat to the captain-general, arises from the fact
that De Vries alone, rather than the mutineers in general, had sworn to forfeit his life
if he ever talked to her.

The Selyns incident
Confession of Wouter Loos, JFP 27 Oct 1629; verdict on
Hans Jacob Heijlweck, 30 Nov 1629 [DB 226, 241].

Murder of Frans Jansz
This incident took place on the High Island (Jansz
was the only man to die there in the course of the mutiny), while Jeronimus and his
principal lieutenants were negotiating with Wiebbe Hayes. A reserve body of mutineers
stayed behind to act as reinforcements if required, and they had orders to dispose of
Jansz while they were waiting for the others to return. Evidently Jeronimus had Hayes and
his men firmly in mind at the time, and this must have help to crystallize his thought
concerning the surgeon’s possible defection. Verdict on Hans Jacob Heijlweck, 30 Nov
1629 [DB 241].

“. . . creatures of miraculous form . . .”
This was
Pelsaert’s description of the tammar. The
commandeur
was the first Westerner
ever to observe and describe marsupials, and his journal thus has considerable scientific
as well as historical value. JFP 15 Nov 1629 [DB 235–6].

Wells
According to one Defender, the wells were “50, 60 or even 100
vademen
deep, being very sweet water.” Letter of 11 Dec 1629 in
Leyds Veer-Schuyts
Praetjen, Tuschen een Koopman ende Borger van Leyden, Varende van Haarlem nae Leyden
(np [Amsterdam: Willem Jansz], 1630), pp. 15–8 [R 231]. The fact that two wells were
discovered is mentioned by Pelsaert, JFP 20 Sep 1629 [DB 149]. Otherwise, see
The
ANCODS Colloquium,
p. 99; Jeremy Green and Myra Stanbury, “Even More Light on a
Confusing Geographical Puzzle, Part 1: Wells, Cairns and Stone Structures on West Wallabi
Island,”
Underwater Explorers’ Club News
(January 1982): p. 2; Hugh
Edwards,
Islands of Angry Ghosts
(New York: William Morrow & Co., 1966), pp.
174–5. Edwards comments that he finds it hard to believe it can have taken
Hayes’s men almost three weeks to find the larger cisterns; an unresolved mystery. In
any case, we are told that the quality of the water was excellent; it tasted “very
sweet, like milk.” LGB.